Expert Insights
We tapped into the expertise, trusted opinions, and deep knowledge of leading healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the smoking cessation field. Their insights offer a first-hand look at the current landscape and complex health challenges the profession is confronting. Their perspectives provide viewpoints on the evolving impact tobacco and nicotine usage is having on public health, society, the economy and the environment.
Expert Insights
While smoking rates have declined in some parts of the world over recent decades, the use of alternative tobacco and nicotine products such as e-cigarettes and vapes is surging. Alternative tobacco and nicotine products and flavours - which could play a role in helping smokers quit tobacco - are being exploited to hook new generations or keep smokers in a cycle of unnecessary, potentially harmful, addiction. What’s more, these new nicotine products are sold for recreational use and overtly target young people who likely never touched a cigarette before. They may perceive them as safe, or even harmless. They are neither.
We tapped into the expertise, trusted opinions, and deep knowledge of leading healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the smoking cessation field. Their insights offer a first-hand look at the current landscape and complex health challenges the profession is confronting. Their perspectives provide viewpoints on the evolving impact tobacco and nicotine usage is having on public health, society, the economy and the environment.
Expert Insights
We tapped into the expertise, trusted opinions, and deep knowledge of leading healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the smoking cessation field. Their insights offer a first-hand look at the current landscape and complex health challenges the profession is confronting. Their perspectives provide viewpoints on the evolving impact tobacco and nicotine usage is having on public health, society, the economy and the environment.
Perspectives from Darush Attar-Zadeh
Honorary Clinical Fellow Respiratory Lead Pharmacist NW London
Darush Attar-Zadeh is a practising pharmacist in the UK, specialising in helping people change harmful behaviours. He is the incoming Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS) Executive Chair (Sep 2025), Co-Chair Task Force Medicines Optimisation Committee and part of the IPCRG teaching faculty for treating Tobacco Dependence and Asthma Right Care. Darush has specialised in the field of smoking cessation for twenty-five years and currently contracts his services to the GP federation in Barnet where he supports and treats people with Tobacco Dependence. He was asked to help review the UK National Training Standards for smoking cessation and was a member of the London Clinical Senate Helping Smokers Quit programme. Darush has published more than 45 clinical papers and writes teaching modules on various medical platforms. He has been recognised by his healthcare peers at the 2019 PCPA GP Pharmacist awards for excellence and was awarded a PCRS best practice award in 2018 for work he and his community pharmacy colleagues carried out for people living with COPD. Darush and colleagues were highly commended at the HSJ awards in 2017 and 2024.
“Nicotine cessation is the ultimate goal to help people come off smoke and nicotine altogether, so policymakers can really make a difference. We also need to have clear messages that, these, novel nicotine products shouldn't be promoted and glamorised to children and young people, adolescents, so we can have a smoke free and nicotine free generation.”
Darush Attar-Zadeh
Perspectives from Heidi Croucher
Founder and Lead Convenor of Smoking Cessation and Health (SCAH), Dorset, United Kingdom
Qualifying with a first class honours degree in 1999 Heidi has over 25 years midwifery experience with 10 of these specialising in tobacco control. In 2018 Heidi was asked to lead the implementation of treating tobacco dependency projects across the regions Integrated Care Systems and more recently Heidi has supported NHSE as the lead smoking in pregnancy Midwife. Heidi is the Founder and Lead Convenor of SCAH – which is an annual national conference that brings professionals together with an interest in smoking cessation to share the latest evidence based research and practices.
“Dedicated services are needed to help support people to achieve a “Total Quit”. Policies in place to support easy access to treatment, and a variety of treatment to support nicotine dependence and safely weaning people off that nicotine dependence.”
Heidi Croucher